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The World of Astar Wiki
Welcome to the wiki for the rpol campaign, The Demon Crown. This will give you some idea of the kind of world you are walking into and will help you decide if this fantasy setting is for you. This game uses the Pathfinder 1E ruleset as a base but is a homebrew campaign. I have adjusted some things to make it fit the world that you will be playing in. Most of the changes are things in Pathfinder that I have elected to remove in my campaign, but there are a few modifications as well. First off, the world of Astar is a relatively low magic world. Magic exists, but it's very rare. Only about 1 in 10,000 people have the Talent. In comparison about 1 in 100 have a genius-level IQ in today's world. As such, magic, and those who use it are looked at with distrust and suspicion by the common masses. Magic items still exist from when magic was more prevalent, but they are getting harder and harder to find. Additionally, this primarily a human world with no elves, dwarves, halflings, etc etc. Monsters and creatures still exist, but they are not playable characters. There are different races of humans though, and some of them have "racial" modifiers to stats etc. This wiki is by no means complete and is a work in progress. If you have any questions feel free to ask. The World of Astar Background It has been over two hundred years since the Demon War. Two hundred years since the necromancer, Lothar, summoned the demon, Uathal, and his army laid siege to the lands of the Central Kingdoms laying waste to every living thing in its path. With the kingdom of Etria taking the lead, it required all of the armies of the Central Kingdoms to fight against this foe and vanquish Uathal back to the realm of Hel. Lothar was beheaded for his crimes against mankind but not before he broke the Demon Crown, the source of his power over the demons, into three pieces and magically sent them to places unknown. So for two hundred years peace has reigned. But the battle took a heavy toll on all of mankind. Perhaps it was the strength of the magics used to defeat the enemy or maybe the gods deemed humanity unworthy of the powers of magic. In either case magic was all but taken from mankind and is a rarity. But after two hundred years there is a fell whisper on the wind. Stories of demon worshipers searching for the pieces of the Crown and sightings of dark and evil things that hint of lesser demons and fractures in our reality. But those are most likely just rumors of twaddling fools. Magic They go by many names: mage, magus, magic-user, magicka, sorcerer, and wizard to name a few. But the thing they all have in common is that they are the wielders of what is sometimes referred to as the Talent or magic, in more common terms. Magic was once quite a bit more prevalent two hundred years ago but now those that can use such forces are few and far between. The exception to this rule seems to be Source clerics. Their magic healing abilities and powers remain largely unaffected. Once they were thought of as rare compared to other magic-users but now they are more common in comparison. This has led to some interesting social effects. Among the uneducated (which is the majority of the people), magic is largely distrusted as are those that use it. This has also led to an increase in those that follow the Source religion and its clerics. There are essentially three types or sources of magical energy: * Personal: Personal magic energy comes from the user himself. Those that have the Talent, as it is sometimes referred to, can use their own magical energies to cast cantrips or minor spells without memorizing/preparing and reciting any magical spells. Advanced magic-users can even call forth their own magical energies and direct them at others causing them physical harm. The limits of this are based on each individual and their magical power. Magical ability is like any other ability and therefore can be trained and strengthened. This personal magical energy can be sensed and felt by others that are attuned to it although there are advanced methods of hiding or masking this. * Dimensional: Dimensional magical energy comes from the very environment of the world. There are inherent magical energies everywhere, not only in this dimension but other dimensions as well. These energies can be harnessed and used by the initiated. These magical forces are channeled through the user and then directed and are more powerful than anyone's personal magical energy. In order to tap into these dimensional energies spells must be memorized and then recited or read to call on these energies and cast the spell. Once a spell is memorized casting it degrades the memory of the words of the spell. How many times a spell can be cast before it is forgotten and has to be re-memorized is determined by the ability of the caster and the difficulty of the spell. The most powerful spells can only be cast once, even by advanced mages, before the words are forgotten and have to be memorized again or can only be read because they are too powerful to memorize. * Divine: The last source of magical energy is Divine. This energy supposedly comes from the gods themselves although some believe it's just dimensional energy since not all users believe in the various deities. Whether it's a Source cleric or mage using a spell that calls on the power of a deity, these energies come directly from the gods and, in some cases are dependent on the belief of the caster. The spells must be memorized just like those that call on dimensional energies and are just as powerful. In some ways it is like calling on the personal magical energies of the gods. Religion The Source Although not the only religion in Astar there has been an increase in the members of this faith largely due to the relative stability of their clerics' ability to use divine magic. Many believe that the church must have some merit if their magic-users are still able to call upon their powers. The Source faith is the belief that there is only one god and that he is the source of all things and others are false gods. Their symbol is a circle with a two perpendicular lines crossing in the center inside the circle. They espouse peace, love, and forgiveness and strive to follow the will of the Source. The church is run by the Assembly of Patriarchs which has 11 members. Below the Patriarchs are, in descending order, Archbishops, Bishops, High Priests, Priests, Apostles, and Acolytes. Sometimes the title, Cleric, is used in place of Priest or High Priest. Apostles and Acolytes are students and followers. They have not yet been ordained by the Church and may still leave the church at anytime. Once ordained, however, Source clergy take a solemn and sacred oath to serve the Source and the Church until death and beyond. Temples abound in every corner of Astar. Mostly prevalent in the Central Kingdoms there are some Source temples and clergy in the Eastern Kingdoms as well. Clerics of the Source faith call upon healing and other magic through their faith in the Source and though training, which is often, but not always, conducted at the High Temple in Belen. The Central Pantheon Another vastly popular religion on the western continent is the belief in the Central Pantheon of gods and goddesses. Temples erected on behalf of these dieties tend to be for the entire pantheon as well as the priests who follow them. From time to time, Amon being the most common example of this, there will be temples both large and small dedicated to just one of the dieties with priests specializing in just one of the members of the pantheon. The pantheon is made up of the following 12 gods and goddesses: Amon the All Father, ruler of the gods Suael the Divine Mother, queen of the gods Qamhas the Fleet, god of commerce and financial prosperity Arek the Bold, god of warfare and strength Aelia the Giving, goddess of nature and the harvest Sharo the Wild, god of the hunt and animals Vontia the Alluring, goddess of beauty, peace, and love Isros the Deep, god of the sea and storms Canna the Light, goddess of light and the arts Keros the Learned, god of knowledge, magic, and prophesy Ara the Steady, goddess of home and family Sekros the Dark, god of the dead. Various nations in the Central Kingdoms have different interpretations and stories about the gods and they emphasize different aspect about the deities. For example, the Tyderians hold Sharo in higher regard than all the other gods due to their hunting culture. They consider themselves the children of Sharo and believe their first king to be a direct divine descendant of the god. This is not necessarily a common belief throughout the realm. The Ristoran do not believe in the pantheon. Rather, they believe in a collection of spirits that manifests into a collective. Similar to the shinto belief system they believe everything has a spirit or essence and collectively these spirits make up various higher divine entities. In the Eastern Kingdoms each nation has their own set of deities and beliefs. The Kalmyrans are primarily Source followers for some unknown reason. The Kingdoms of Astar Central Kingdoms The Central Kingdoms are made up of Etria, Ristor, Nepria, Messan, Tyderia, Adrus, and Togrea. They occupy a large land mass with a great ocean to the east and the Inner Sea to the west. The Central Kingdoms are at peace but tensions are constant. Etria and Nepria maintain a strong alliance and while Messan is aggressive against Nepria and Ristor would take Etria if given a chance, Tyderia remains largely neutral and a little isolated. Eastern Kingdoms Across the Hessian Ocean, as it is called in the West, or the Ajdakhar as it is called in Shamir there are the Eastern Kingdoms. The Eastern Kingdoms are made up of Shangti, Shamir, Kalmyr, Nisahn, Jungti, Haesan, and Daos. Western Outlands Separated by the Inner Sea, the Western Kingdoms are more a collection of regions and city-states. They have not yet been organized into countries but are still at war internally, trying to gain as much land as possible. Notable locations include Seafort, the main trading hub in the Outlands, Ketalos, Entheas, Thalas, Shadedale, Evercrest, Winterholde, Edgefall, Blackhollow, Riverfrost, Snowmelt, Bredon, Aerilon, Newhaven, Stanmore, Eyosera, Yemanor, Alora, Caena, Shinsan, Miscellaneous Communication Several common ways to get messages across long distances exist in Astar. From fastest to slowest the following are used: * Messenger Dove: These grey and black homing pigeons or doves are very reliable and can cover amazing distances. They can travel as far as 1,000 miles at an average speed of 40 to 60 mph depending on the total distance. They work only in one direction and must be shipped in mass by traditional means and then used. There is a network of stations set up to send messages to most major cities in a very short amount of time. There are some limitations and drawbacks. Messages have to be kept relatively short and must be sent to a major city that has a station. * Courier: Those that can afford it can hire a courier to travel the distance for them and deliver a message. They are usually on horseback and are trained in security and speed in delivering messages. Oftentimes a messenger will carry multiple messages if there are other messages going to the destination. Drawbacks include slower delivery time and reliability that is only as good as the person carrying the message. * Mail: There is a rudimentary mail service that is run by the governments of allied nations. Agreements are signed among the friendly nations and mail is transferred at the border. Mail is not used much simply because the literacy rates are low. Currency Money in the game follows the Pathfinder rules in terms of the cost of goods and services as well as the units of money used and rate in which they are exchanged. Sometimes gold pieces are referred to as crowns in the Central Kingdoms since they have a picture of a crown imprinted on one side and the Moonstone Mountains on the other. Within the Central Kingdoms agreements have been made that standardize the size, weight, and print on the coins to ensure standardized coins throughout the various countries. Platinum, gold, silver, and copper are used in the Eastern Kingdoms as well and exchange is done by weight. Category:Browse __FORCETOC__